Tamsin Greenway's key lessons from Vitality Netball Superleague Season Opener

Tamsin Greenway talks through the key lessons learned from the Vitality Netball Superleague 'Season Opener'.

Firstly, London Pulse have arrived! The contest between London Pulse and Team Bath Netball was the game of the weekend.

I'm not sure any of us would have predicted the first quarter, where at one point London Pulse led 10-3. They dominated from the start, but there were a few things that really stood out for me about the match.

Every year, when you make predictions, you're going off the back of last season and the players that teams have recruited. This London Pulse side remained consistent with their youngsters which is why it reminds me of the early years of Team Bath; we spent three years as youngsters getting beaten by everybody and then we had three years where literally no-one could touch us.

Both of those periods - the time losing and then winning - made players' careers and players that have shaped our game like Pam Cookey, Geva Mentor, Rachel Dunn, Sara Francis-Bayman… the list goes on. That's what I saw with London Pulse because suddenly these exceptional young talents have put their hands up and said that they're ready.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Olivia Tchine was exceptional in their shooting circle and I was so pleased to see the composure she had under the post and the way she was able to embrace the occasion as opposed to be overawed by it. Her hold has just got so much stronger and she's becoming very difficult to take the ball off.

We always talk about the fact that it takes a while for a shooter to come through and develop, and that you need to give them the time and opportunity to do that. It's the hardest position to come through as a young player and Olivia has stepped up.

Pulse oust five-time champions Bath | Sirens beat Wasps

London Pulse recorded their first-ever victory over Team Bath Netball in the Vitality Netball Superleague on Sunday afternoon.

Ellie Ratu was also key in helping her shooter because her feeding was exceptional. Ellie is a player that I've been singing the praises of for years, right from when she was dropped at England age-group level because I couldn't quite believe it!

For me, Ellie Ratu is going to be England's next centre. Her vision and touch on the ball, plus the fearless nature of her feeding, were all on display in Birmingham. She just put ball over the top of Layla Guscoth and didn't think twice about it. Those kind of attacking partnerships between shooters and mid-courters are invaluable.

Now, let's talk about Funmi Fadoju shall we?! She is incredible and it doesn't matter if she's playing at wing defence, goal defence or goal keeper, she's still incredible.

Funmi's ability and range is such that no ball from an attacker is safe with her on the court! She can run the front, she can get the elevation over the back, she can sit off and recover, she can put arms over… she's unreal!

The highlight of the game for me was watching the master and the apprentice at work. Team Bath fought to the bitter end and Layla Guscoth did everything in her power to keep her team in it. It was a joy to watch both her and Funmi turning the amount of ball that they did.

As a neutral, the contest between London Pulse and Team Bath was edge-of-your-seat entertainment and it was exactly the sort of game that you want during a huge opening weekend.

The next thing that we learned from the Season Opener is how important it is to have the quality of international players back in our league. All those who took part in the Netball Quad Series remain bang in form, and really help step up the standard.

For Loughborough Lightning, Beth Cobden was one of the big reasons they got over the line in the opening round. Lightning's performance against Pulse wasn't pretty but she was rock solid.

I said during the coverage that you probably didn't notice Beth whilst you were watching the game, because she just continuously shut down the WA, but it was relentless. Ine-Mari Venter was also superb for Saracens Mavericks, looking really confident and classy. Along with Layla Guscoth, Laura Malcolm and Lefebre Rademan they all had a huge input into their team's performance.

But it was Ellie Cardwell for Manchester Thunder who really impressed me. We need to start by highlighting the number of goals that Thunder scored over the two days - 149 - because that was big. Seeing Ellie back in the Thunder environment and she thrived with confidence and calmness on the ball, she looked totally in control and comfortable in that group.

I keep saying to my young Scotland players that when they go back to their university teams and their clubs, I should be able to spot that they're a Scottish Thistle. And, you could spot Ellie Cardwell a mile off during the course of the Season Opener weekend.

Now, let's talk about Celtic Dragons and Shaquanda Greene-Noel. I took a bit of stick off people on social media for not mentioning anyone from Dragons in my players to watch last week. However, I'm always happy to eat my words, and Dragons were my surprise package of the weekend.

Dannii Titmus-Morris has given them a really smart style and direction of play, they scored a lot of goals over their two matches and we're looking at a completely different team from last season.

The partnership of Georgia Rowe and Lefebre Rademan just works; they complement each other and it was one I'm excited to see grow. Lefebre Rademan is a cut and drive goal attack and Georgia Rowe is a typical hold and post up shooter and so the combination just opened up so much space.

However, what I'm more excited by is Shaquanda Greene-Noel in defence. She's such a big character, she was so much fun to watch and she's going to be here, there and everywhere.

Her style of interceptions reflects her personality; she was leaping around the court and playing to the crowd. If Celtic Dragons can start to cement their defensive end and get a level of structure to what they've got in attack, then they could upset teams this year. They will only get better, and they will only grow in confidence.

It was really good to see them step up like that, especially because it's so difficult to do after a tough season. We need the league to improve across the board, and it was so good to see them with a new brand, delivering on court. Keep scoring 50+ goals and you will get those wins.

Finally, if London Pulse are big contenders for the top four now, then my other favourites out of everyone to get that fourth spot are Saracens Mavericks. Before the opener, I was looking at quite a few teams for the finals, when you finally get to see them all in one place it gives you a much clearer picture.

And, we've been waiting for this Mavericks team to finally come to the party and I'm not saying they were perfect this weekend, they still had 'those' moments, but those moments were shorter and fewer.

The way that Ine-Mari Venter, Razia Quashie and Jodie Gibson played and the control that Sasha Corbin displayed, made everything click together.

Mavericks importantly looked happy, Kat Ratnapala as head coach looked and sounded cool and calm, and then the dancing we saw from Brit Clarke and the crowd chanting for her was fantastic. In all, Mavericks looked like they have got it together.

What's great is that we've got Saracens Mavericks against London Pulse on Friday night to start Round Three. I actually think Pulse might take it, but whichever way it goes it should be a cracking watch. The Vitality Netball Superleague is back and it's going to be one incredible season

The Vitality Netball Superleague continues on Friday with Round Three. Saracens Mavericks' meeting with London Pulse will be streamed live on the Sky Sports YouTube channel from 7pm.